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Dumont-Smith receives UG honorary degree

October 21, 2017

Claudette Dumont-Smith, an advocate for Indigenous peoples, received an honorary degree at University of Guelph’s Fall Convocation on Saturday. Nominated by the Centre for the Study of Social and Legal Responses to Violence (CSSLRV), Dumont-Smith has worked for more than three decades to enhance Indigenous health across Canada and to reduce violence against Indigenous women and girls. She served on the federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission. As the executive director of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, she helped lead an initiative that documented more than 1,000 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in this country. Dumont-Smith was trained in nursing and public administration. After receiving her honorary degree, Dumont-Smith gave a public address during the convocation ceremony for the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences. CSSLRV Director Myrna Dawson and Dumont-Smith are both part of the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative with Vulnerable Populations (http://cdhpi.ca/SSHRC/about-sshrc).